With a simple, sincere, and genuine answer, 17-year old David Hogg showed how a teenager is costing Fox News a fortune while advancing the cause of gun reform during an interview on MSNBC’s The Last Word with Lawrence O’Donnell.
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This is how a teenager named #DavidHogg is costing #FoxNews millions. #TheLastWord https://t.co/IZWzzI8vFA pic.twitter.com/msSquijCDK
— Sarah Reese Jones (@PoliticusSarah) April 3, 2018
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O’Donnell asked, “I want to go to what Bill O’Reilly said, he said you and the boycott being directed by shadowy, radical groups. What do you say to that?”
Hogg answered, “Thanks for seeing me as so powerful. I’m well lit, I don’t see shadow figures behind me. If he sees shadowy figures as corporate America standing by us, okay. I want to focus on what’s ahead for our movement. We need to focus on the positivity and bringing everyone together. The first thing we have coming up are the town halls on April 7th we’re trying to get in every congressional district. When bill says these things and Laura says these things. I’m fine when they disagree with my policies, that’s okay. What I have a problem with is when they attack me or anybody else personally. Why? What does that accomplish? It doesn’t make sense. I don’t have any shadowy figures behind me. I’m just a kid that uses Twitter. If he sees me as powerful, that’s okay. I don’t see myself that way. We’re trying to use our first amendment rights, as is corporate America.”
Fox News issued a statement claiming that they are standing behind Laura Ingraham, but Fox has issued similar statements in the past to cover for hosts who are fading fast. The great unspoken in these Fox News statements is that their support is not permanent. If the advertisers don’t come back, the host will soon be gone.
David Hogg and the Parkland teens are a powerful force because they are just kids. People like Bill O’Reilly are trying to turn Hogg into more to give them justification for their personal attacks. The loss of fifteen advertisers is hurting Fox News. The last night that Ingraham was on the air she had one Fortune 500 advertiser.
Fox News is no longer the unchallenged number one cable news network. By simply being a normal kid, Hogg is shining a light on the ugly places that the NRA and their media allies are willing to go to.
David Hogg and his fellow students don’t fit the NRA’s standard playbook, which is why they are costing Fox News a fortune in lost advertisers.
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Jason is the managing editor. He is also a White House Press Pool and a Congressional correspondent for PoliticusUSA. Jason has a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science. His graduate work focused on public policy, with a specialization in social reform movements.
Awards and Professional Memberships
Member of the Society of Professional Journalists and The American Political Science Association
